U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman announced charges today against eight alleged cyber criminals in what prosecutors say was an elaborate scheme to steal from global financial institutions.2011 Star-Ledger file photo

NEWARK — Federal authorities today charged eight alleged members of an international cyber crime and money laundering operation with scheming to steal millions of dollars by hacking into U.S. customer accounts at more than a dozen banks, brokerage firms and government agencies, including the Defense Department.

Jersey City-based Fundtech Holdings and Automated Data Processing Inc.of Roseland, were among the victim institutions in New Jersey, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in announcing the charges. Customers whose accounts were hacked and identities were stolen also live in New Jersey, authorities said.

The defendants are charged in a criminal complaint with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to commit identity theft, authorities said.

The arrested, who range in age from 31 to 49 years old and come from Massachusetts, Brooklyn, Atlanta and the Ukraine, either managed crews in their areas or helped move the fraud proceeds, authorities said.

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U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said the government’s ongoing investigation into the organization has so far identified attempts to defraud the victim companies and their customers of more than $15 million.

“Cyber criminals penetrated some of our most trusted financial institutions as part of a global scheme that stole money and identities from people in the United States,” Fishman said in a statement. He said the defendants used “stolen identities to ‘cash out’ hacked accounts in a series of internationally coordinated modern-day bank robberies.”

According to the criminal complaint, one part of the elaborate fraud involved filing fraudulent tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service seeking refunds using the identifies of customers whose money had been stolen.

The defendants each face a maximum of 55 years in prison if convicted on the top charges and a fine of $750,000.

The group was expected to make an appearance today in federal court in Newark.